A commemoration meeting of Victor Popkov passed off in Moscow

On Monday, April, 18, a meeting of commemoration of Victor Popkov, peacemaker, journalist and human rights activist, was held in the Museum and Public Center named after Andrey Sakharov. 

It should be reminded that Victor Popkov's car was fired upon by unidentified people in Chechen Republic, at the town gates of Alkhan-Kali on April, 18, 2001. The human rights activist died in one of the Moscow hospitals on June, 2, the same year. 

The meeting began with quotations from Popkov's articles: about his participation in the "March of Mothers' Compassion" in 1995 against war in Chechnya routed from Moscow to the Caucasus, about the "March of Peace along Eurasia" which started from Yasnaya Polyana in 1998, about the conference in the Hague he had had great hopes for. The quotations were read by human rights activist Elena Sannikova, host of the meeting. 

"This conference can well become the start of the most significant steps of the Caucasus away from war and death business, towards replacement of right of force by force of right. But for this to become reality we need as many people as possible who are not indifferent", Popkov wrote. 

Then a film "Global Awakening" was shown devoted to the "March of Mothers' Compassion" shot by Buddhist monks who were organizers of the event. Participants of the march which started on March, 8, 1995, on-route from Moscow to Grozny were mothers of the soldiers of the first Chechen war and representatives of non-governmental and religious organizations as well. Viktor Popkov himself was an active participant.  

In particular, there is an episode in the film where the Chechen soldiers' mothers tell a story of a "provocation": in 1991 Russian military equipment was left in Chechnya and then the Russian party reported that the gunmen put women and children to safeguard it. "There was nothing of the kind, - one of the Chechen women says in this episode of the film. - If we knew of this equipment left here we would have destroyed it with our own hands". 

The "March of Mothers' Compassion" was not let into Grozny, it was stopped near Achkhoy-Martan by Russian servicemen, in spite of the fact that, according to the film, representatives of the Chechen party, including Johar Dudaev, had promised to hold up military operations for the period of passing of the "March".

After the show the participants spoke about their common work with Popkov. Viacheslav Ismailov, journalist of "Novaya Gazeta", Alexander Cherkasov, human rights activist and member of "Memorial" who reminded of release of 17 peaceful residents from Aslan Mashadov's prison achieved by Popkov during negotiations, and Theodor Popkov, the peacemaker's son, were present at the meeting.